Shannon and the Shadow Monster
by Always A Dragon
Summary: Shannon was just your usual seven year old. Until that fateful camping trip. Yes, that one.


**A/N: This is set when Shannon is 7, and meets her "monster" for the first time. She's on a camping trip with the Brownies, a bit away from Stonybridge.**

_Shannon stuck her hands together, moving her fingers around. On the tent wall shadows moved, shaping into different things. First a butterfly, then a dog. Shannon giggled as she twisted her hands, projecting the image of a rabbit onto the tent. Her friends were fast asleep, but she had been too excited to. Outside, wails and howls sounded. _

Probably big, scary monsters.

_Shannon thought eagerly, imagining green ones with purple claws and big blue ones with yellow spots. The torchlight was bright, a warm, yellowish colour. It danced around the tent, gliding over the sleeping girls, backpacks and stray water bottles. Something howled outside, and the trees rustled in a sudden gust of wind. The tent walls rippled. _They're shivering, _Shannon mused, _in the cold wind. _Shannon moved a bit, trying to get into a comfier position on her sleeping bag. She was sitting cross-legged, with the torch in her lap, the bright light illuminating the tent. The moon outside was full, too, and some of the moonlight filtered in through the fabric. Shannon twisted her hands to make the shape of an elephant, looked up, and stopped. _

_There was another shadow. Shannon could tell it wasn't _her _shadow, as she could never make something that intricate. She looked around the tent. No, her friends were all fast asleep and there was nothing else blocking the torchlight. There was something strange about this shadow, though. It seemed thinner, lighter. Shannon turned off her torch. Her eyes hardly had to adjust to the light difference, as the moonlight was clear. The shadow moved, and with a gasp Shannon realised that not only was the shadow outside, but it was of some weird animal. She shuffled forwards, hand outstretched. Her fingers brushed the shadow, curious. It came closer, and within a few seconds was right on top of her. It was massive, and she had not a clue what it was of. It could be a friend come to spook her, but she was unsure. Most people didn't move like that, even if they were trying to scare her. A thought struck her. _

If I go outside, maybe I'll be able to see what it is.

_Shannon was well known for her -sometimes rather rash- bravery, and this time was no different. She crawled over to the zip, making as little sound as possible. She unzipped the tent, the noise sudden in the still, quiet air. Moonlight flooded the tent, and Shannon poked her head out inquiringly. Then her breath left her. She stopped, she stared. She _screamed. _It was hairy, with bristly, scratchy fur. It had massive fangs, bone white and gigantic. It was monstrous, the kind of thing one might expect in horror movies. It had a face like no other animal Shannon had seen before, with humongous whopping eyes the size of biscuits. They were bright yellow, the pupil a mere dot point against the iris. It was completely and utterly _terrifying_. The thing snarled -Shannon was _sure _it snarled- and sped off, disappearing in the thick fog that surrounded the camping tents. All around people woke up, scrambling to see what had happened. The girls in the tent sat up straight. Kay, the dark-haired girl, yanked Shannon inside the tent. Both girls were pale. Shannon was shaking, still envisioning the monster._

_"Shannon? Did you scream? What happened?" Kay rattled off the questions but received no answer. A brownie leader ran to the tent, sticking her head inside._

_"I heard screaming," she said hurriedly._

_"It was Shannon. Something spooked her." Kay was frantic, shoving Shannon towards the leader. The brownie leader hugged the distraught Shannon. After a bit, Shannon looked up at the leader, tears in her eyes._

_"It-I-" she started to say, but faltered._

_"Yes, dear?" the leader prompted worriedly._

_"It was a _monster." _Shannon whispered, her eyes wide. "I saw a _monster."

**A/N: My first published story! Poor Shannon, now she has to deal with endless taunting for the next seven years...**


End file.
